Manually operated vehicle seat adjusters typically have an elongated rod journaled to the upper channel of one of a pair of slidable seat tracks, which rod serves both as the central pivot axis for, and prime mover of, the various components of a seat latch. The rod is turned manually by a generally L shaped handle at the end, which is normally rotated down along with the rod and held down by the same return spring that biases the seat latch down into locked position. The rod and handle are typically one continuous piece, with no disconnect therebetween.
There is a potential need for a quick disconnect means for such a manual seat adjuster, one capable of a very rapid response, in the order of no more than 10 milliseconds. More typical actuators, such as electrical solenoids, cannot operate that quickly. So called piezoelectric materials, which expand very quickly, if very slightly, with the application of a voltage, are capable of such quick responses. However, current thinking is that the amount of linear displacement of which such materials are capable is insufficient to render them effective in direct clutch or release applications.